Many years ago, I watched the TV series "Iron Tooth Copper Tooth Ji Xiaolan" and was deeply impressed by the Haisheng burning car section. The two men of Wakan, sitting in Hezhen's car, went on a rampage in the downtown area, and were hit by Yushi Haisheng, who was patrolling the city, and immediately stopped the car and took people, and blamed the two slaves who were usually as a mighty man for forty, and then burned Hezhen's car on the street. In the blazing light, HaiSheng lit a bag of cigarettes and smoked it for a long time, and there was a clamor of the people around... What Hai Sheng didn't know was that he was causing a heinous catastrophe that was about to cause him to destroy his family and be imprisoned.
Although "Iron Tooth Copper Tooth Ji Xiaolan" is a drama, most of the stories are based on real historical allusions, and Haisheng Burning Car is undoubtedly a tribute to Qianjia's famous minister Xie Zhending.
First, burn the car royal history: a person who does not clean
The most famous source of the "burning car royal history" is the article "Shu Xie Yushi" written by Wu Minshu, a famous scholar in the late Qing Dynasty, which said: "At the end of the Qianlong Dynasty, the prime minister and the emperor used things, and the power was flaming, and there were favored slaves who often rode out of the car, and people avoided it, and they did not dare to question it." Xie Zhending happened to be a royal history, and when he encountered it during the tour, he pulled the spoiled slave out of the car and beat him violently, and then burned the car of Hezhen... This process is basically identical to the deduction in The Iron Tooth Copper Tooth Ji Xiaolan, and has been quoted in many later articles – unfortunately, there are several details that contradict other notes. Before exploring these historical details, we may wish to see how Xie Zhending, a "strong imperial history" who dared to challenge the greatest magnate of the dynasty, was refined.
Miscellaneous Records of the Pavilion
According to xie zhending's contemporaries in the Qing dynasty imperial family ai xinjue luo zhaozhi recorded in the "Miscellaneous Records of the Xiaoting Pavilion", Xie Zhending was a person who was "unscrupulous and loose", according to the current parlance, that is, a person who was not confused about major affairs, but his daily life was quite informal. He paid little attention to the living conditions and health conditions, the table and bed "dust accumulated a few inches, do not know how to wipe", the flowers and grass in the yard let it grow barbarically, never did the cutting, from the outside do not know that it is still thought to be a ownerless deserted house. What's more fatal is that this Junquan is not good at financial management - Xie Zhending's family situation should be very good, "Qixia Pavilion Wild Ride" records that he "has a sexual arrogance, tastes thousands of gold, travels between Jiangsu and Zhejiang, and throws it away", if the family foundation is not good enough, it is impossible for him to spend so much money, he himself once said: "Life is expensive for the ear, silver money is common, what a pity!" It was also this disposition that had been dissipated and returned, which led his servants to steal his family property for a long time, and he was completely unaware of such a file, or even if he knew, he would not mind.
Xie Zhending was knowledgeable and knowledgeable, and it was said that he had read the Thirteen Classics before he was ten years old, which was the reason why he had passed the entrance examination at the age of twenty-seven. But in other ways, he was like suffering from amnesia, with a poor memory. He once bought a new set of imperial clothes and lent it to Fa Shifan, who was an official of the same dynasty, to wear it, and when he was deposed for burning he's car, he left and went on a sightseeing trip. After "He Yan fell", he was specially recalled by the Jiaqing Emperor and appointed as the head of the ceremonial department, and just after taking office, he caught up with the sacrifice activities of the imperial court, and hurriedly went to buy imperial clothes, Fa Shifan heard about it, and deliberately came over to tease him: "I remember that you bought a set of imperial clothes in the past?" Why add a new one? You go home and look for the old one to put on. Xie Zhending said with a blank face: "I have always thrown the imperial clothes into the closet, where to find it?" Fa Shi Fan Qiang couldn't help but smile and said, "Will you lend it to someone?" Xie Zhending shook his head and said he didn't remember. Fa Shifan couldn't help but laugh, "You originally lent me that imperial robe, how come you forgot it all now?" Xie Zhending smiled embarrassedly at this -- "His disdain is so detailed."
The owner of the Xiaohengxiang Room recorded Xie Zhending's "negative scriptures and talents, shangqi festival" in the "Great View of the Wild History of the Qing Dynasty". During the period when he presided over the Jiangnan Township Examination, he inspected Nancao, and happened to encounter strong winds that hindered the smooth transportation of grain to Beijing, which would certainly have an adverse impact on the grain supply in the north. Xie Zhending immediately held a ceremony, praying to the wind god to bless the people of the country, who knew that the wind direction was changed immediately, "Si is crossing the river and the wind is smooth", the locals felt that it was too amazing, so they named this wind "Xie Gongfeng"... Of course, this prayer ceremony coincided with the timing of the reversal of the wind direction, but in ancient times, it would undoubtedly constitute a "plus" for Xie Zhending's reputation as "upright and psychic".
"The Great View of the Wild History of the Qing Dynasty"
Second, the burning car royal history: a person who was applauded by the people
Looking at those strange people in ancient Chinese history, they did not suddenly make strange deeds, and often had a long-term "accumulation" before the move of leaving a name in qingshi. Xie Zhending was no exception, and it was precisely the wild and unruly and unscrupulousness he had cultivated since he was a child that made him make a move to stop and burn when he encountered He yan's car running through the capital.
This matter is recorded in many Qing Dynasty notes, and here the author tries to absorb the public's opinions, restore it for the reader, and also explain some of the contradictory details to make the whole picture.
First of all, the time of this incident, Wu Minshu's "Shu Xie Yushi" and Chen Kangqi's "Lang Qian JiWen Sibi" say "when qianlong was late", while the Qixia Ge Yesheng and the Qing Dynasty Yeshi Daguan say "Jiaqing Chu" and "Jiaqing Yuan Year", which are actually not contradictory, because Qianlong once gave the throne to Jiaqing in the sixtieth year of Qianlong, that is, in 1796, but until his death in January 1799, he held real power. It is interesting to note that these two statements, the latter obviously weakened Xie Zhending's "boldness" in this move, those who do not know that He yan has lost his position in the "Jiaqingchu", Mo said a car, burned his house can only be regarded as asking for credit from the new emperor, in fact, it is not. Compared with the above notes, the more authoritative "Draft History of the Qing Dynasty" directly states that this incident occurred in the "Sixty Years of Qianlong", that is, the year before Qianlong's Zen throne was given to Jiaqing, at this time, Hezhen was still in power, and no one knew how long Qianlong, who was in good health, would seize power, so Xie Zhending burned the car only to be afraid of power and perform the duties of touring the imperial history of the city, which was the fundamental reason why he was quickly retaliated against afterwards.
Draft History of the Qing Dynasty
The second is the place where the incident occurred, the Qixia Pavilion Wild Ride says "Nancheng", while the Qing Dynasty Wild History Grand View and the Qing History Manuscript say "Dongcheng". The residence of He yan later became the prince of Gong's mansion, and from the path point of view, the term "Dongcheng" seems to be more credible, but the Republic of China scholar Ge Xuan has written about the original commission of this matter in "Anecdotes of Celebrities in the Qing Dynasty": "His family slaves ride in high cars, run rampant in the city, and have nothing to worry about. Therefore, it is not clear what this car is used for, considering that in the last years of Qianlong, Nancheng gradually formed a "settlement" of opera artists and theater performers centered on Han Jiatan, which is the most lively entertainment place in Beijing, so it is also possible to drive to the south.
Third, it was who was sitting on the car at that time, and some of the notes recorded that they were "domestic slaves" or "pet slaves", but in the "Qixia Pavilion Wild Ride" and the "Qing Dynasty Wild History Grand View", it was said that he was "concubine brother", and the "Qing Dynasty Wild History Grand View" particularly emphasized that "his people were very powerful", and the "Qing History Draft" also used the term "concubine brother", which seems to be more credible.
"Lang Qianji Wen Four Strokes"
As far as the whole process of the whole incident is concerned, the most detailed record is the "Four Strokes of Lang Qianji": After Xie Zhending encountered Hezhen's car rampage and almost injured the people, he immediately ordered the soldiers around him to stop the car and drag the people inside out. Before Xie Zhen could be punished, the man burst out with extreme arrogance: "I don't know whose car this is, you count something!" Do you still dare to beat me? Do you still dare to beat me? To paraphrase a line from "Nine Pin Sesame Officials": Xie Zhending probably never saw this kind of request in his life, so as he wished, he beat him to death, "then burned his car", and said while burning: "Is this car still worthy of the prime minister' sitting?" The onlookers cheered "Good Imperial History"!
Some people may ask: Why did Xie Zhending have such a boldness to burn hezhen's car, starting from the establishment of the official position of imperial history of the Qing Dynasty. The "General History of China's Political System" edited by Mr. Bai Gang records that in the third year of Shunzhi, in order to investigate the bribery of officials from other places who came to Beijing to drill camps and bribes, collude with Beijing sticks, and undermine official style and discipline and public order in the Beijing Division, the Qing government issued the "Order capital inspection court to send a patrol city to the imperial history, supervise the command of the five cities' terracotta divisions and officials of various workshops, and strengthen the visit to the illegal people"; according to the "Draft History of the Qing Dynasty", "the jingshi flogging, the staff, and the unrelated nouns, the inner city is commanded by the infantry, and the outer city is completed by the five-city patrol city history", that is, Like driving a horse-drawn carriage to rampage on the street, disrupting traffic order and threatening the safety of citizens, the patrol city yushi can completely "hit first and then beat", even if the car is burned, it is within the scope of authority, which is beyond reproach.
III. Burning Car Imperial History: A man who touched the emperor
After all, the car in the middle hall is not burned by anyone who wants to burn it; and the people in the middle hall are not hit by anyone who wants to fight after all.
After the peace of the country, not only did they embezzle state assets, but they also showed no mercy in eradicating dissidents, especially Yushi, who could only make promises and not allow the sound of horses, and whoever dared to disobey them would be eliminated quickly. The "Records of Yang Ji Zhai Yu" once recorded that Liu Quan, the household slave of Yushi Cao Xibao, was impeached and "relied on the position to engage in private affairs", and the attendant Wu Shengqin received the news, secretly informed He Yan, and He Yan hurriedly asked Liu Quan to "destroy his room, clothes, carriages and horses were over-regulated, and there was no trace", resulting in no evidence found in the subsequent inspection, and Cao Xibao was almost imprisoned... It is conceivable that when he learned that his car was burned and his concubine was beaten, He yan was very angry. But after all, it is the middle hall, shouting and shouting to kill things do not have to be done personally, naturally someone does the work. The Qixia Pavilion Wild Ride records that an advisor named Wang Zhongjian went on a pedestal and impeached Xie Zhending, who was deposed. There was a yushi named Guan Shiming, a good friend of Xie Zhending, who laughed when he heard about this: "Today, the two dukes have their own mistakes. When asked how he said this, Guan Shiming said, "Xie Gong lost his official position, and the prince lost his name." People at the time thought that this sentence was properly commented: the dismissal of officials is only a setback for a lifetime, and if the reputation is bad, I am afraid that it will be scolded by the world.
《Qixia Pavilion Wild Ride》
As for what would happen to the burning of Hezhen's car, Xie Zhending's heart was also clear, so the will of the dismissal of the official was to smear oil on the soles of his feet -- to slip away, and he ran to the Jiangsu and Zhejiang areas at once. The famous scholar Wang Chang said in his "Biography of The Poetry of the Lake and the Sea" that he "crossed Jiahe in the calendar of five dragons, crossed the Cao'e River to the West Lake, and saw the victory of the Jianhu Mountain". Whether in the hearts of the people or the scholars, Xie Zhending has become a hero who is not afraid of the powerful and resists the power and adultery, "so that the scholars and doctors are vainly left and right", drinking and giving poetry, and not changing their pleasures. In contrast, the good friend Guan Shiming, who was upset with him during the conversation and laughter, was a different ending, perhaps because he was indignant about his friend being deposed and adulterous, and soon after, he drank too much wine at a party with his colleagues, and suddenly said that he had written the impeachment and the song of Yan, which would soon be presented, who knew that he died suddenly after returning home that night, and the cause of death was unknown.
After Qianlong's death, the Jiaqing Emperor overthrew Hezhen, and Xie Zhending also returned to the imperial court, I don't know if it was the reason for his loose personality, he never drilled a big official for himself, but instead quietly did some practice of repairing bridges and roads and opening canals to resist disasters in Liupin's official position. The history books say that he "supervised the collection of grain and cut bad rules", and the official reputation was very good until Jiaqing died in the fourteenth year.
In the thirteenth year of Daoguang, Xie Xingyao, the prefect of Yuzhou in Henan, was summoned by the emperor for his excellence. After reporting his name and place of origin, the Daoguang Emperor asked curiously, "Since your place of origin is from Hunan, why do you speak in Beijing?" Xie Xingyao replied, "Chen's father once served as the imperial history of Hanlin, so Chen grew up in the capital since childhood. The Daoguang Emperor then asked who his father was. Xie Xingyao had just uttered the three words "Xie Zhending", and the Daoguang Emperor was suddenly excited: "It turns out that you are the son of the Burning Car Imperial History!" Then he kindly and gently told him many, many words, praised his family lineage, and encouraged him to be a good official. The next day, the Daoguang Emperor could not suppress his emotions and said to several military ministers: "I have heard about Xie Yushi's burning of the car since I was a child, and I have great admiration for his integrity and bravery. ”
"The majesty of the planted wind and the constitution, the courage of the people who intimidate the night!" Later generations have always had a very high evaluation of Xie Zhending's burning car, and it seems that this move can really reverse the atmosphere and deter the small night. In fact, this is likely to be the infinite elevation of the readers, and it is unlikely that Heyan and his huge interest groups will be burned by a fire in the street, let alone withdraw the black hand extended to the national treasury because of the applause of the people... Many times, the greatest significance of the existence of a maverick is not that he can change anything, but only in his existence, which is like a bag of cigarettes lit by the flame after Haisheng burns the car in "Iron Tooth Copper Tooth Ji Xiaolan", smoking is comfortable, but also helpless, more is a statement.